Santa Clara Magazine

Lawrence Yee MBA '83 was appointed to the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board by Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr.

Yee held a variety of positions at the University of California Cooperative Extension from 1975 to 2008, including director of the University of California Cooperative Extension in Ventura County from 1986 to 2008. He was director of the University of California Hansen Trust, established to sustain Ventura County agriculture through research and education, from 1993 to 2008.

David Wells '83 joined RETTEW, an engineering design firm, in the Mechanicsburg, Pa. office as a senior engineer in the land and development division.

He is responsible for administering RETTEW’s quality control/quality assurance (QA/QC) standards and providing QA/QC on all of RETTEW’s land development projects. He also writes QA/QC procedures and is tasked with further advancing QA/QC standards in RETTEW’s land development and survey divisions.

Wells has 30 years of construction and land development experience, which includes his managing a variety projects involving highway and transportation facilities. Additionally, he is well versed in subdivision and land development planning for natural gas, residential and community facilities. Wells is an engineer in training (EIT) and has a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from SCU.

Chris Walker '83 has recently joined IBM Global Business Services as healthcare training program manager for the Middle East and Africa. He now lives in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, with his wife of 20 years, Hassania, and their youngest son, Norm, who is a freshman at American Community School of Abu Dhabi.

Kevin G. Vogelsang '83 was promoted to Vice President in Public Works of RBF Consulting in the San Diego office. Prior to joining RBF eight years ago, Vogelsang managed the design and contract award of over 60 military construction projects for the U.S. Navy. He brings nearly 30 years of project management, environmental planning, and engineering experience to his new position in RBF Consulting.

Bernard Vogel III J.D. ’83 was recently named President and CEO of Silicon Valley Law Group. He specializes in corporate financing and tax planning as the chair of the corporate and securities group. Bernie plans to carve strategic alliances with domestic and international firms to better support the firm's globally involved clients.

In addition to serving as president of Sunwest Wild Rice and vice president of Sunwest Foods, Inc., John Sasbrook '81, MBA '83 recently released first vintages of Sierra Rose Syrah from his family vineyard.

Lisa Sammon '83 and husband Eric Fischer welcomed a baby girl, Emily Genevieve Michael, on May 25. The family lives in Santa Clara.

Karen Drury Russell J.D. ’83 practices and promotes collaboration and mediation as alternatives to litigation in divorce proceedings through her law practice in Campbell, for a “peaceful, respectful divorce.”

David Perez ’77, MA ’83 was named parks commissioner of Watsonville, Calif. by the city council. Hel brings more than 30 years of experience working with children and families to the city. Perez, who has lived in Watsonville for 23 years, has worked as a juvenile probation counselor, social worker in an adolescent residential treatment center, foster parent and juvenile traffic hearing officer. 

Gregory Patti B.S. '79, M.B.A. '83 is currently managing director for Agave Partners, a start-up and transition management advisory firm.

Lucy Paliwoda '83, a director of engineering in Northrop Grumman's electronic systems sector, received special recognition at the 17th annual Women of Color in Technology STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) Conference for her leadership. Paliwoda was cited for her commitment to helping others and her distinguished service in advancing science and technology.

Paliwoda's technical leadership and interpersonal skills have been instrumental in her appointment to leadership positions within Northrop Grumman. Currently, she is director of engineering for several company campuses in California and Colorado. Paliwoda is responsible for technical and process excellence for hardware engineering, software engineering, test engineering and flight operations. Her primary program areas support the payload and mission processing programs for various satellite programs.

Mark Montrose '83 is principal consultant of Montrose Compliance Services, Inc., a full service professional consulting company specializing in electromagnetic compatibility and product safety. Prior to becoming a consultant, Montrose was responsible for regulatory compliance at high-technology companies in California as both an engineer and manager.

Matthew C. McGlynn '83, J.D. '86 is now serving as a judge on the Superior Court of Tehama County.

Paul McDonald '83 is an account executive for Agilaire, which is owned by Tom Haley in Redwood City. The company does printing and packaging for large companies and was recently named one of the 50 Fastest Growing Privately Owned Companies by the San Jose/Silicon Valley Business Journal.

Henry Manayan J.D. ’83 was appointed chief operating officer of Discovery Minerals Ltd.

Manayan was appointed to a White House advisory group on Asian-Pacific affairs by U.S. President Bill Clinton, served three terms as the mayor of Milpitas, and was the first Asian-American ever elected to the position.

Manayan is the president of Transpacific Companies, LLC, a finance and investment company based in Silicon Valley. He was also a co-founder of ViaGold Capital, a private equity and venture fund holding company, which went public on the Australian Stock Exchange. He was involved in the merger and acquisition of Culturecom Holdings, Ltd., which is listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. While at Culturecom Holdings, his focus was in mergers and acquisitions. He served as chairman, CEO, board director or executive officer to numerous portfolio companies including Terra Solar Global, which was recently sold. He also has been an officer, director or legal counsel to numerous companies and organizations in four countries.

George W. Kemble ’83 is Chief Scientific Officer at 3-V Biosciences. He has extensive experience in drug discovery and development, as well as virology and host-cell biology. 3-V Biosciences is located in Menlo Park, Calif.

George Kemble ’83 has been appointed to the Scientific Advisory Board of Mymetics, a leader in the development of mucosal and virosomal-based vaccines for infectious diseases. Dr. Kemble is currently the CSO at 3-V Biosciences, a biotech company with a unique approach to antiviral drug discovery and development. He is a leading authority on vaccine development and in particular the development of vaccines for RSV. Dr. Kemble was responsible for the research and development of multiple products, including the successful launch of FluMist.

Jeff Hornung '83 was hired by Syncsort Incorporated to lead strategy, product management, and business development across all company lines. Synscort is a global leader is data protection software and extreme performance integration.

Teri Graf-Pulvino MBA ’83 and husband Kenneth have founded and funded the new nonprofit, John Muir Geotourism Center in Coulterville, Calif. The JMGC will be an educational center following the writings of John Muir directly from the natural context he observed in the area in the 1860s.

Greg Galati '83 received the 2010 City of Hayward Mayor's Award. Greg's community organizing efforts draw over 100 volunteers each month to neighborhood community cleanups. Greg and his wife Colleen are both marriage and family therapists. They have two boys, Aidan, age 8 and Benjamin, age 5.

Benedict Fuata ’83, a Hawaii Army National Guard colonel, was selected as the next civil defense administrator for the County of Hawaii. Fuata, 50, has been the commander of the Army Aviation Support Facility in Hilo since 1993. He is also the Guard’s director for logistics.

The civil defense administrator directs and coordinates the development and administration of the county’s emergency preparedness and response program to ensure prompt and effective action when natural or man-caused disaster threaten or impact Hawaii Island. He also serves as a board member for the Hawaii Island Home for Recovery.

The FREY 'Ohana (Family), P. Gregory "Greg" Frey '83, Maria "Mia" Fialho Frey '84 and Samantha Io'ana Malia Frey '10 congratulate the leadership of the SCU Alumni Hawaii Chapter for coordinating several "good fun" events in our Island State, to include fantastic networking events and SCU Sports watch parties. Hawaii folks may be thousands of miles from SCU, but our Hawaii Chapter keeps the Broncos in our minds, hearts & spirits.